Electronic devices of the type that generate an audible signal when an alarm condition is sensed, such as a smoke detector or a CO detector, are often installed in residential and commercial buildings. There are often a number of these devices distributed throughout the building. Presently, such sensor devices suffer from the fact that the audio signals may occur at a time when there are no personnel in the building or those persons in the building are not sufficiently close to the devices to hear the audible signals.
A good solution for this might be to use more intelligent sensor devices which are equipped to effectively relay the alarm signals to a control panel or trigger the alarms of other sensor devices to generate alarms throughout the building.
More intelligent sensor devices capable of communications have been developed over the years. For example, Google's smart smoke alarm Nest Protect® sends users a message on the phone when the battery is running low. Nest Protect offers a human voice that gives an early warning when it detects smoke. In situations wherein the smoke results from a nondangerous source, such as from burning toast, persons nearby have opportunity to correct the problem before the alarm starts screeching. When something is wrong, Nest Protect alerts your smartphone in case you are not home. If desirable, the alarm may be deactivated by only a tap on the smartphone.
However, Nest Protect devices do not communicate with other Nest Protect devices.
It may be expensive to replace existing smoke detectors with new smarter devices. Consumers may grow accustomed to their old devices despite some of their annoying traits.
However, if the old devices could be upgraded by simply replacing the old batteries with a more intelligent battery at an affordable price, consumers may be more willing to make the change.
Significant efforts have been made to develop intelligent batteries having electronic circuitry embedded inside the battery. However, there are also problems associated with having electronic circuitry embedded in a battery. For example, the corrosive environment of the battery cell may cause damage to the electronic circuitry. Or the battery may fail when the electronic circuitry is damaged. U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,502B1 to Gartstein, granted Dec. 27, 2005, is directed to a battery having an independent housing containing electronic circuitry. The housing may be snapped onto the battery cell to form an assembly which may fit in a battery socket. The electronic circuitry of Gartstein is limited to communicating to the battery cell, as opposed to communicating to the electronic device powered by the battery or other remote electronic devices.